Pickles Moves Against Local Authority Lobbying PDF Print E-mail
Anna Minton

Anna Minton, 10th August 2010

Councils are to curtail their use of lobbyists, following changes in the rules announced by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles.

All bodies that receive funding from the Department for Communities have been ordered to sever their contracts with lobbying firms.

Pickles said “taxpayer-funded lobbying and propaganda on the rates weakens our democracy” and his statement announced that “the practice of local authorities hiring lobbyists to press-gang Government into pet funding projects” is to stop.

The new rules take the form of an amended statutory Code of Recommended Practice on Local Authority Publicity, which is intended to stop campaigns being run from public funds.

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Hope for Sunshine on your Holidays PDF Print E-mail
Anna Minton
27 July 2010

As parliament prepares to go into recess, here’s a quick update on our parliamentary work in the new parliament.

An Early Day Motion, on the urgent need for an effective statutory register of lobbyists, tabled by Kelvin Hopkins MP, has 46 signatures, including 20 Labour and 15 Liberal Democrat. However, only two Conservatives have signed up so far.

Following the news that Mark Harper, the Conservative Minister responsible for developing plans for a register, is to meet lobbying industry representatives but has failed to respond to our requests for a meeting we have teamed up with campaign group 38 Degrees who are galvanising their 140,000 members to press Harper to meet with us.
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